Ruidoso's Midtown highway realignment ideas reviewed

Fewer lanes could accommodate bikes, left-hand turns

The Sudderth Drive alignment study compared the existing typical street section at bottom with several other options, including a three-lane that would accommodate bikes and left-hand turns.

A highway model based on two lanes of traffic with a central turn lane received the most positive feedback among options explored by stakeholders on the realignment of Sudderth Drive/New Mexico Highway 48 through Midtown.

"It's kind of like road dieting," Paul Steffin with Parsons Brinckerhoff said Friday of the option. The existing alignment includes four lanes of traffic, two going east and two going west with no center lane, no bike lane, but scattered on-street parking. Steffin's firm is heading the project for the New Mexico Department of Transportation. Fewer traffic lanes could create a problem, especially during special events, he pointed out.

More than 20 participants showed up for the stakeholders session late last month, "We had four different conceptual layouts, typical sections of roadway alternatives that would travel through the corridor," he said. Steffin said he hopes to have a recommended plan ready for public review in late summer.

The first consisted of five lanes to enhance traffic flow with two lanes heading east and two going west, separated by a center turn-lane. That option was not viewed favorably by the participants, he said.

"It has major impacts to businesses," Steffin said. "It is so wide, it starts running into buildings. Where we're at in the study is to listen to what some of the concerns are and we're supposed to look at the alternatives out there to address those concerns. One of the concerns is congestion and one of the ways to address that is creating more capacity, meaning more lanes."

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His team emphasized to those at the meeting that just because an option is presented doesn't mean the team is saying it is a good idea, Steffin said.

"There are pros and cons to every single idea," he said. "With a five-lane section, you are going to have cars moving through, but it's going to speed them up. Cars will move faster, but the down side is that it would clip buildings, so it's not only cost, but the negative impact on the Midtown area for commerce."

Another option featured "round-abouts" at the intersections of Sudderth with Center Street and Eagle Drive, he said. "A round-about would be too wide at Center and Eagle. They impact the businesses and the quadrants. It's not a good option, it's too narrow."

Favored options

People at the meeting generally preferred either a three-lane or four-lane option, he said.

"With the four-lane, we could fit them inside the existing prism and it would occasionally create a center turn-lane, which would make intersection operations a little bit better," he said. "The other thing, though, it restricts access. So you would no have cars stopping midblock making left turns into parking lots. They would be forced to go to an intersection, make a U-turn and come back.

"In a way, it creates a safer situation, because where your conflicts are now are at intersections, not midblock. But then, it will restrict people getting to places as conveniently as they might like. That one does allow for on-street parking and we might be able to improve on that a bit."

The three-lane option has been brought up at a couple of meetings, he said.

"What that does is you have a center lane that can be used for deliveries, for the turn movements and to get people turning left out of (side parking lots or driveways) using the turn lane. They would have a half lane they could get into. You also could, in conjunction with that, put in some medians and choke it down a bit. That is the one option where we could get bike lanes. We were disappointed that no one showed up to represent the interests of bicyclists."

However, if bike lanes were added on the road, his team would not recommend on-street parking because they come into direct conflict, Steffin said.

Concepts and specifics

After the broad overview, Steffin brought the discussion with stakeholders down to specifics.

"We brought a map showing the existing rights of way and property lines," he said. "The comments we got dealt with deficit parking and a discussion about areas where parking could be added.

"Some of the comments we can't necessarily address with this project, such as a deficiency of public bathrooms in Midtown. Some shop owners said they allow the public to use their facilities, but it creates problems and a burden."

Stakeholders also discussed using Texas Street and Rio Street for bike lanes, and what types of improvements that could occur on those roads to ease the traffic flow, Steffin said. Using Wingfield as a by-pass route also was proposed.

Eliminating sidewalk clutter for better pedestrian flow also came up, he said.

"You have light poles, benches, trash cans and trees on the sidewalks," he said. "They discussed what can be done to enhance walkability on the corridor. Are there adequate crossings. We talked not about another traffic signal, but a 'hawk crossing,' which is a pedestrian-only signal."

The High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk beacon is a traffic signal used to stop road traffic to allow pedestrians to cross safely. Research shows compliance is 97 percent higher than with bare, unsignaled crossings, but lower than conventional traffic signals. A pedestrian would activate the signal when needed to cross.

Steffin said reducing the number of street lights for a smaller footprint was a possibility.

Stakeholders also mentioned connecting bike routes and creating village transit to allow people to park further away and be conveyed into Midtown, he said.

"Some expressed their annoyance that several property owners limit their parking to customers only," Steffin said. "That's not something we would get into. It's private property. But they took issue that some owners lock up their lots at night, restricting where people can go." He also heard complaints that business owners monopolize available on-street parking spaces and about the need for on-street handicapped parking.

Steffin said he was told large parking lots that belong to businesses currently closed at either end of Midtown are being leased to create paid parking.

Everyone agreed that better signs are needed to indicate where to turn for off-street parking. They also thought the current speed limit in Midtown is appropriate. Some suggested rerouting heavy trucks to a different road. Those at the session wanted to maintain the economics and aesthetics of Midtown, Steffin said.

The idea of installing raised medians was tossed around, but might affect the Midtown parade route and could be an issue in snow, they concluded.

As the session began to wind down, each person was given three stickers to rank what they thought were the most important issues in the corridor, Steffin said. Lack of off-street parking came out on top, followed by inadequate on-street parking. Improving traffic flow and adding cross walks tied for third with the need for more public restrooms, he said.

"I think one person gave all their votes to the last one," he said.

Finding a way to ease the traffic blockages caused by delivery vehicles also ranked high, Steffin said.

"I felt the meeting went very well and we got a lot of good conversation out of it," he said.

Traffic counts

His team will be out over Memorial Day week and weekend conducting traffic counts, Steffin said. They need the numbers, the traffic flow patterns and to see how sidewalk are used on high-visitation days.

"We'll have base line numbers from Memorial Day to see then what the impact is in June," he said. "By the time we hit early July, we will have defined what we are doing. By early August, we will be going with a final recommendation to a public meeting. The senior center/community center was good for this meeting, but next big one we should bring back to the convention center, so there may be an availability issue for us."